Floating On Warm Waters
by Mrs.Lautner.Wolf
Summary: Having a crush on your swimming coach at boarding school could be considered okay. But when things become intimate, there's sure to be trouble. All Bella knows is that the trouble might be worth it. "I don't know how we got here but it's glaringly obvious that we have no idea how to stay away from each other." Jacob/Bella, Friendship, Comfort and eventually, Romance.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey, there. Good to see you again. I hope you guys like this story as much as you liked Baby on Board. This time Bella is a seventeen year old student who gets a little too involved with the swimming coach at her new boarding school. Between the two of them, they can't seem to stay away from each other and keeping what they have a secret proves to be very difficult. How will it work out between the two of them? We'll find out.**

I never knew boarding school could be this relaxing, so solitary, so peaceful. It's much better than having Renee screaming my name every five minutes because someone left the peanut butter jar open or she's not too sure how to do something on her computer. This new school was much quieter, granted that school hasn't officially started and more than half of the school's students haven't actually arrived for the Week of Orientation that the school insisted on. It also helps that my new roommate, Angela Webber, is like me in many ways: she can sit in silence comfortably and she values personal space. She kindly stepped out for a bit to give me a minute to myself and even offered to help me pack if I would let her. I like her. She doesn't hover.

I stare at the ceiling, thinking about the reasons why I'm here at St Dominican Boarding School. Mainly because my parents' marriage was falling apart. They don't think I know what's going on, or at least Charlie doesn't. I'm pretty sure Renee knew I was catching on. That's why they sent me here: Charlie, to spare me from watching my parents fighting and to preserve my innocence. Renee sent me here because she wanted to keep me in the dark. She hated how close the two of us were. She knew I couldn't ask Charlie because he'd pretend like everything was okay and I couldn't ask her because she wouldn't tell me a thing. If I wasn't there, I wouldn't be able to stick up for Charlie either. She kind of bullies him and he was too nice a guy to stand up to her. He just wanted to keep the family intact for my sake.

I didn't want to come and Charlie didn't want me to either, but Renee pulled the "bright future" card and talked up the school, mentioning that St Dominican had a "world class swimming coach" to force me here. She knew that I loved swimming and if she'd said that the swimming coach had been on the national swim team, there was no way I couldn't go. Charlie would make me go because he wants what's best for me and I'd eventually agree, hating every minute of it, because that coach would bring me that much closer to the Olympics. The next thing I knew I was on the three hour flight from Phoenix to Vancouver. Charlie and I had been emotional wrecks at the airport and the lady at the boarding gate practically had to rip us out of our hug so that I wouldn't miss the flight. I called the moment I was seated in the plane until one of the air hostesses gave me a dirty look and then I called again five minutes ago to tell him that I'd landed and arrived at the school safely. I promised to call him every weekend and in return he promised to fly me home every school break. I just hope he'll survive without me. He loves Renee and I just wanted to be there for him if she walked out on him. She almost has a few times. And she's tried to take me with her.

With a groan, I throw my arm over my eyes. In a way, I'm glad to be away from it all but I couldn't help but worry about Charlie.

I hear the door crack open slightly and when I lift my arm a little, I see Angela's sandy gold hair and cautious sapphire eyes peeking through the door. "Can I come in?" she asks softly.

"Sure. You don't have to ask," I remind her. "It was your room first." She's already packed and settled with her stuff.

She shrugs and takes a seat on her bed across from mine. "I figured that you'd be jet lagged and might want sometime alone."

"Thanks," I say, sitting up and crossing my legs. After a second I continue. "I like you," I inform her bluntly. "I think we'll be good friends over the next year."

Her smile is bright and genuine and it gives me a warm feeling. I never usually bother with friendships and relationships. For as long as I can remember, Charlie's been the only friend I needed. Everyone else never really interested me. I feel that maybe, for once in my life, I should put effort into at least one relationship besides the one I have with my father.

"So, you want me to help you unpack?" she's really asking, giving me a chance to say no.

"Yeah. That'd be great."

We start with my clothes and shoes. I let her hang my jackets, sweaters and blouses while I fold my t-shirts, jeans and my millions of sweat pants. I shove all my shoes under my bed and my scarves and hats are tossed into the closet as one big bundle of wool and fleece. We get to know each other as we work, not small talk like I usually have to endure with other people but a genuine conversation. She has four brothers, a set of twins older than her and another set of twins younger than her. I laugh at the way she complains about how rotten her luck was. She's always wanted a sister but after her younger brothers, her mom said five was enough. We're a lot alike and have a lot in common. In fact we have so much in common it's almost weird. We both like reading (that's not the weird part), we both come from Washington stated (neither is that). But things got really freaky when we realized we both are allergic to cats, have the same middle name and both our dads are cops. We stare at each other in awe for a whole ten seconds before bursting out in laughter.

"If we didn't look so different I'd wonder if we're having a parent trap moment." Angela laughs as she flops herself on her bed. I pull out my favourite poster and some blu-tack and stand at the head of my bed to put it up.

"It'd only be fair, really," I say, unrolling my poster and pressing a blob of blu-tack to each corner. "You deserve a twin, too."

We laugh together as I smooth out the poster against the wall above the headboard. I hop off the bed and stand back to admire how good the poster looks on the wall. "Now I feel at home," I swoon.

Angel sits up to look at the poster and her jaw drops. "Holy mother of Jesus! Who the fuck is that?" Her reaction makes me grin with pride. The light coming in from the window next to my bed makes the poster look even better than it did in my old room. Dripping sandy blonde hair, crazy blue eyes, well-built chest, defined arms and the abs! Good lord the abs, slowly descending into a pair of jeans. It was a perfect picture.

"That, dear Angela, is Ryk Neethling, South African champion swimmer, gold medalist and my future husband."

"He's gorgeous! Thank you, Men's Health magazine," she giggles, referring to the red magazine tile just above Ryk's head. And then she jumps suddenly, just remembering something. "Oh, I actually forgot that you were a swimmer. Maybe it's time I take you on that tour of the school," she's almost squirming with excitement as she speaks. "I've got something to show that will make your day."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Angela has shown me around the girls' dorm: the senior bathrooms and showers, the laundry room and the roof top where we get to hang out. She's shown me the main school building: the library, the science lab, the art room, etc. She's shown me the football/soccer field, the basketball court/gymnasium, the students' garden and the tennis court. She's also shown me all the off limits areas, like the huge fenced off lake located at the very back of the school grounds. The teachers' quarters (also obviously off limits) are placed near there so that if any funny business takes place, they would be able to put a stop to it. I don't really care about all that stuff. She's left the pool out on purpose to get me hyped up about it. I'd read that they have an Olympic sized in-door pool fully equipped for all season swimming. She knew that that's what I want to see so she leaves it for last. I'm almost bouncing as she leads the way. There's hardly anyone around, a few student and a few adults who may or may not have been teachers. I just want to see the pool.

"The first thing you need to know is that the pool is always locked up," she says before we even make it to the white wood paneled building and my excitement immediately deflates. What the fuck? I thought the whole point was that she was going to show me the pool. What a letdown. "But because you are my new roommate, I thought I'd give you my family secret as a welcome gift." I've lost my ability to be enthusiastic and force myself to pretend to listen about the family secret that's 'been around for decades' but I can't help my bottom lip jutting out in a pout. She takes my wrist and drags me around the building, through some bushes until we are behind it. I notice that we are between the pool house and the school and absent mindedly look for a tall tree that could possibly allow me to jump over the wall if I ever wanted to. And then I remember that Angela is saying something.

"My older brothers were told by our cousins and then they told me when I started coming to this school," she mumbles, slipping her hand into a gap between two of the vertical panels and then her whole arm goes in and I sort of wonder what she's gonna pull out. "And I'm supposed to pass it on to the younger ones when they get here. It's actually really naughty of us. We could've been expelled but I guess that's part of the thrill." I wonder if she's talking about weed or something and find myself feeling little wary about this 'family secret'. Angela doesn't seem like the drugs type but I start doubting my judgment the more I watch her determined expression as her had fumbles behind the wall. And then I hear a soft _click _and with a flick of her hand, two of the wood panels swing open to make a narrow door way. "Tada!" she whispers and grins when she sees my eyes pop open.

I'm speechless for a while and then I squeak, "Is that a secret entrance to the pool? Like, a serious, real life secret entrance?"

"Courtesy of the Webber clan," she says proudly. "I'll show you how to sneak in so that you can practice your swimming any time you want."

She doesn't expect it when I jump at her with a hug. "I fucking love you for this!" If I had any doubts before, they're all gone now. Angela was the best roommate ever.

**AN: Okay, so Jacob doesn't make an appearance in this chapter but he might in the next one or the one after that. For now, please tell me what you think so far.**

**PS: I don't know if any of you will know who Ryk Neethling is or what he looks like so here's a link to some of his pictures: hussar/SKQyPYezVzI/AAAAAAAAEbI/GhPDg53N79M/s400/Ry k_neethling_wall_01_ **

**Mens_Health_wall_01_01**

**I'm not a huge fan of his but he is a good looking guy. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Here we go, chapter two. I hope you enjoy it. Jacob makes a brief appearance.**

Angela watches me stuff my face like a savage while she delicately eats in a lady-like manner. We're sitting on my bed, sorting through the stack of paper sent from the office this morning. We sit in comfortable silence, working through the sheets of information. Right now we're going through my class timetable marking off which classes we have together. We have English, Art, History, and PE together, four out of eight. That's the first, second, fifth and seventh period on the first day school starts. I let Angela highlight the classes we share before I pull out the extra-activities list and immediately tick the box next to "S_wimming with Coach Black_".

After looking over everything else on the list, the only other thing I tick is "_Creative Writing with Ms. Clearwater_" then put the list away. The rest is first semester assignments, tests and projects and school events I should be aware of. There are the school rules and the code of conduct (which I don't read) and a list of all the teachers and staff members. My mouth is so full of food when Angela asks which extras I'm taking that my answer sound like "fwimwing en wyfing."

"Uh . . . Come again?"

I swallow and take a sip of soda before I repeat, "Swimming and writing."

She smiles and rolls her eyes, "Of course swimming. And you're gonna love Jake. He's the best."

"Who the fuck is Jake?" I ask, carefully filing the stacks of paper in groups of relevance.

"He's the swimming coach. He hates being called Coach or Mr. so he lets us call him Jake."

I'd never heard of teachers doing that before but I shrug after a second and decide it doesn't matter. I stuff the rest of my home-style burger into my mouth and get up to put my file away. "What makes you think I'll like him?" I ask when I'm done chewing.

She shrugs. "Everyone likes Jake. He's just one of those teachers. And he's really, really hot."

I choke on my soda when she says that and it goes spraying all over my t-shirt. "Oh god, that is nasty."

"What?"

"He's the school coach!" My nose wrinkles at the last phrase. "Coaches can't be hot. Isn't he too old or whatever?"

"What? Not even! You don't know what he looks like? Didn't you Google him or something."

"No," I say shamefully. I should have looked him up. At the time, I didn't think it was necessary. If the school said they had champion swimmer, it didn't matter who it was. I mean, if it was someone well like Phelps, I would have known.

"Well, trust me, he is damn gorgeous. Like, seriously."

My nose still wrinkled, I can't imagine a school sports coach even being attractive to me. He was probably in his mid-thirties or forties with some sort of beard and wearing a baseball cap, the same as all my swimming coaches over the years. "That's just . . . Eww. And besides," I grin and point at the poster above my wall. "Have you forgotten that my heart belongs to one man?"

At first, she blinks at me a few times but then she just snorts and mumbles a "For now" that I think I wasn't supposed to hear. I laugh at the expression on her face and at the idea of thinking a school coach could be hot. Letting the matter rest, I decide that it's time I call Charlie. I step out into the hallway when he answers and tell him about how it's been so far. I tell him about how great Angela is for a borderline antisocial like me. I tell him about the pool with confidence that he won't mention it to anyone. He tells me how great things are at home but I know he's lying to me, for my sake of course. He always was a terrible liar, like I am. I go along with it, though, because he doesn't need to know that I know, I'll spare him the stress of it. He tells me that he misses Forks and nana's house. I tell him that Vancouver reminds me of Forks and he's pleased to know I think of home. We must have spoken for a long time because after a million I-love-yous and miss-yous and goodbyes, we hang up and my phone battery is almost dead.

There are still a few days before school officially starts so Angela and had a lot of time on our hands. Last night, Angela had shown me how to sneak into the pool house the way her brothers had shown her. She told me that it actually wasn't that difficult and school security wasn't that severe in terms of students walking around. There was a patrol team outside the school walls, at the front gate and at the fence around the lake at the very back of the school grounds. "It'll be easy," Angela told me.

She reminds me, when I've put my phone on the charger, that I have to fetch my formal uniform and PE kit from the main office. I ask her to come with me because the receptionist at the front desk has a twitchy eye that creeps me out.

With a groan, she gets up and I drag her through the door. Just making our way down to the first floor of building that there's at least ten more people than there were yesterday. "At this rate, we'll be living on top of each other."

"Wait until Sunday; it'll be like a bee hive." She holds the glass door open and lets me exit first. "Or it'll just feel like that, anyway. After a week or two you'll get used to it." We walked along the coble-stoned pathways that connect each building to another. It was warm today, despite it having been quite cold in the morning. Angela didn't believe me when I'd said that it would get warmer. As corny as it sounds, birds were actually chirping and I swear there are butterflies fluttering around a bush. The sky is still cloud covered but with thin puffs that were far apart enough to let the sun through. "God, it's so sunny today and I'm wearing a sweater." At that, I start skipping backwards and singing _My Girl _in my dolphin t-shirt and knee-long jeans. I'm grinning as I sing. "Is this your version of I-told-you-so?" she asks.

I give her a thumbs up. "_I got sunshine . . . on a cloudy daaaaay._" I don't know what I was thinking, though, because skipping alone is dangerous for me. Skipping backwards was just asking for trouble. And on top of that, Angela and I are laughing like morons so I'm not watching my step. Out of the blue, the heel of my sneaker gets caught in a wider than normal gap between two cobble-stones and sends me stumbling backwards, trying to regain my balance. Of course, being Isabella Swan, I'm not able to do that. I'm gonna fall. "Oh, crap!"

I don't know where he came from but neither Angela nor I were aware of him until I'm just about to fall on my ass and he lunges forward and catches me.

Powerful arms are suddenly there, one around my waist and one under my knees. In that moment it seems as though he's preparing to carry me bridal style and the three of us are all frozen for the smallest fraction of a second before he says, "Well, slow down there, sunshine," in a deep, husky voice that rumbles through his broad, muscular chest. When I look up at him, I have to squint a little to see through the sunlight but it doesn't help. "There's no fire, okay." I blink up at him and stutter a quiet thank you, embarrassingly aware of the red flush that washes over my face. "Are you okay?" he asks, holding me firmly to his chest. When I nod, he sets me on my feet gently but leaves his arm around my shoulders. As we both shift, he blocks out the sun and I can see his face clearly.

Sweet mother of Jesus . . .

Bright white smile, intensely deep-set eyes and a jawline that that looks like it had been chiseled out of ember. He is made of muscle all over and he's wearing a tight, black V-neck that clings so closely to his chest he might as well be shirtless. Like I do in most awkward situations, I look down at my shoes and fiddle with my fingers. Angela can't help it. She bursts out laughing as I shamefully stare at my left blue Converse. "Don't laugh, Angela. I've seen you trip before." and then he asks me with a touch on my shoulder, "Are you sure you're okay?" Shyly, I nod with a timid but loud enough yes. I can't get any redder than I am now. The man holds his hand out so that I can see it so I take it so that we shake hands. His are warm and huge and his grip is firm but not too tight. "I'm Coach Black but I'd prefer it if you just call me Jake."

He's friendly enough but I'm a little stung by the amusement in his face and voice.

"I-I'm Isabella Swan. Bella."

"Nice to meet you, Bella," and then he turns to Angela. "I expect you to take better care of the new students. We don't want any lawsuits so early in the school year."

"Yes sir," Angela giggles, clearly enjoying this moment.

"Good. I'll see you girls later, alright. And, Bella," I look up at him as he starts back on his path. "Please be more careful."

My face flushes again and I glance back at my shoes. "Okay," I mutter and I don't raise my head until I'm sure he's gone. Angela is cracking up and I glare at her tear-streamed face. And then I decide that I'm mad at her walk off towards the office without her.

"Hey! Wait up!" I pretend like I can hear her and mumble to myself as I march on. I make it to the office without her; collect my uniform, trying my best to ignore the twitchy-eyed woman. Angela is only just getting there when I leave the office building so she turns on her heel and walks at my side. "It was funny," she says. I stick my tongue out at her and she knows we're good. When we get back to our room, she nudges me with her elbow. "Sooooooo . . ."

"So what?"

Her face becomes expectant. "What do you think?"

"Of what?"

"Of Jake, what else?"

I can't help it, my face flushes again but I don't hesitate when I answer. "He's okay."

With that, she laughs again. At what? I have no idea. "What?" I ask.

"You're face says it all and 'okay' is definitely not what you were thinking. Be honest."

I lie back on my bed and stare at the ceiling with a sigh. "Fine. He's gorgeous."

"Told you," she beams triumphantly.

I spend the rest of the day trying to forget today's embarrassing moment. It figures that my clumsiness would show itself at the exact most inconvenient second. There was a reason I went into swimming, of all sports. You can't trip in the water. Was it too much to ask to remain in balance at least when other people are around? I must thank Charlie for his powerful genes. My clumsiness came from him.

At 9pm all students had to be in their rooms. Random members of staff had to check each room in the two dorms to ensure that there were two students already preparing for bed. Some rooms were checked twice, just at random and by 9:30pm, checkups ended. I had my swim suit under my pajamas and was ready to go. At ten, the grounds patrol had just passed our dorm and was headed for the boys' dorm. Angela wished me a good swimming practice from under her covers and then she teased that it might help 'Jake' forget the incident if I was extra good when actual swimming practice started. With a parting fuck you, I climbed out of the window with my back pack on me and scaled down the wall using the groves in the brick instead of climbing down the gutter drain like Angela had warned me not to do. It takes a whole five minute get down all five stories of the building. First checking to see if it was safe, I quickly crawl through the fence that separates the girls' dorm and the tennis court. By now the grounds patrol should be passing by the female teacher's quarters at the opposite end of the grounds. It's dead quiet except for the nocturnal insects and it's almost totally dark expect for the lights that light up the path ways that lead to each building. Every sound I make sounds too loud and makes me nervous but it's too late to go back. The tennis court is the hardest part to get by because I'm not sneaking behind a building. The court was only surrounded by a chain-linked fence and I could be easily seen if I wasn't careful. Squatting behind a bush, I look around thoroughly and when I'm sure, I dash passed the fence until I'm safely behind the cover of the pool house. I have to admit that I enjoy this part just as much as the swimming. It makes me feel like I'm an undercover CIA ninja spy or a world infamous jewelry robber breaking into an expensive store. I quickly make my way to loose wooden panel and slide my arm into the gap and feel around until my fingertips reach latch. I slide it free and swing the two loose panels open. I send my back pack in first and then slip in carefully, not making a sound. Once I swing the panels back in place and slide the latch closed, I'm home free. I pull out the flashlight, courtesy of Angela and make my way out of the store room. I find the switch board and light up the pool lights. The windows are blocked off during the nights but switching on the main lights was too risky. With everything ready, I set the silent timer on and undress.

When I dive into the pool, I know this is something I'm gonna do every night.

**AN: So tell me what you think.**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: It might be a while before I'm able to post again but I will try my hardest. But for now, pleas enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think.**

I use my arms and legs to move throught the water, turning my head to the side every five strokes to take in a huge breath. I kick with straight legs and make sure my fingers are cupped together. When my hand finally makes contact with the pool wall I can relax. The last five laps have taken the rest of my energy and I think I'm done for the night. I let my body go and let it float on the surface of the water.

I've been coming here everynight at ten, staying for an hour, maybe even two sometines and by midnight I was out of here. That would have to change though. tomorrow, school starts officially and I won't be able to stay out so late or as often. Hopefully, I'll still get to come at least twice during the week. I wasn't looking forward to it at all. I've never been too fond of school. And I definitely am not excited about waking up at 6am.

I think about the coach and how irritated I am by his physical appearance. Just the idea of what had happened that day on our way to the office made me mad at myself. i should have known better than to start skipping, let alone skipping backwards. I haven't really seen him since, though. i make sure to avoid him until I absolutely have to see him. Hopefully by then he would have forgotten the whole thing.

I decide that I've stared into space long enough and swim to the edge of the pool nearest to me. I haul myself our of the water with a bit of effort (I'd become a little unfit over the summer) and quickly wipe myself down before putting my clothes over the already half-dry swim wear. As I grab the flash light and make my way to the store room, I hear a sound, like a thud or something, that makes me jump and the flashlight slips from my grip and klunks onto to the floor before it rolls away. I'm frozen for a second, straining to hear something, anything, that might suggest that there was someone here or outside trying to get in. Twenty seconds pass and I breathe out a heavy breath. Okay, it must be my imagination. Again. It's not the first time this happened. Almost every night I was here, I've been so paranoid that every little sound makes think that I'm about to get caught. I felt like I was being watched but when nothing happaned, I'd tell myself that I was just over reacting. I pick up the flashlight, very irritated with myself for being such a scaredy-cat, and continue making my way to the store room. I leave the flashlight in an old cupboard where I can find it easily the next time I sneak in. i press my ear against the panalled wall and when I'm sure there's no there, I slide the latch open, peak our left and right like a woodland creature and slip out. I'm like a theif in the night, sneaking around like I do. It's so much fun that I can help smiling as I hurry behind buildings and bush, ducking and diving. Make it a point to scale the wall quicky as I can with out falling breaking my neck. Getting caught all broken on the ground would be just as embarrasssing as getting caught only half way up the building.

Angela's left the window open for me, which makes things a whole lot easier. I get out of the wet clothes and up on my warmer pyjamas before towl drying my hair. When it's dry enough, I tie it up in a bun and go to bed. I dream about fishing with Charlie when I was seven and catching a fish so big it nearly takes the whole bucket. Angela wakes me up before we get to the fish fry part of the dream.

"How late did you stay out last night?" she asks as I bury my face into my pillow, trying to hold on to those last bits of sleep. The covers are so comfortable I can't bare the idea of actually getting up any time soon. The whole summer, I've been waking at aroun ten in the morning. This six o-clock thing is really going to be a struggle.

Angela suddenly yanks the comforter from me and the morning cold shocks me awake. "Get up, you lazy bum, and go take a shower before it gets crowded in the bathrooms." With a grumble, I force myself off my matress and groggily grab my toiletry bag and a towel. My eyes are still squinted with sleep as I make my way down the hallway until I reach the bathroom. It's not exactly crowded but there were more girls in there than I was hoping for. The room is white and blue tiles of wall, creating different shower booths designed for individual showering. Even the shower doesn't wake me up fully and I'm practivally half a sleep under the warm spray of water. Angela helps me hair dry my hair before I put my uniform on: a blue and yellow checkered skirt, a white golf shirt with a collar to match the skirt and a pair of white tennis shoes. Compared to what imagined a uniform would be like, it wasn't that bad. And besides, we didn't have to wear it everyday, only on days specified like the first official day of school. I tie my hair up while Angela only pushes hers back with a hair band to match the uniform. We grab our bags and head for the cafeteria. Our dorm is alive with chaos, a show of girls running around getting ready for school. Some of them are scrambling about in their underwear and some of them look like their hair had been struck by lightning. The grounds are buzzing with students in white, blue and yellow, almost like a flee market, as we cross from the dorm to the cafeteria. Already, I can hear the familiar sound of school ground chatter.: the boys talk about girls, video games, and actions movies they've seen in their lives. The girls are talking about boys, make up, the city. Even though a large amount of the student are American, I can hear the slight difference in word pronounciation in some of the students. The cafeteria looked too small for twelve hundred students and teachers bit Angela assured me that it was big enough. The two of us each get a bowl of corn flakes and make our way to a table. The one she leads me to already has several people sitting there, three boys and two girls. They see us before we get there.

"Hey guys." she greets enthusiastically as she pulls out a chair. Already unsure of myself in a group of people, I hesitate before I take the chair next to her. she introduces me to the two I haven't met, Lauren and Tyler. I'd met the others the day before: Mike, Ben, Jessica. They all seem nice enough. jessica was a little bit much, though, always gushing about something. Mike is very friendly and quite helpful. They tell me about themselve and each other, their experiences at the school the past four years. Angela tells me that Lauren is on the swim team, almost nudging me to interact more. Lauren tells me about the swim team, about competing and when she mentions the coach (she calls him Jake, much to my discomfort) my face turns an unforgivable shade of red. But she doesn't seem too bad.

After breakfast, the bell rings for the start of school and all students make their way to the hall on the first floor of the office building. Angela keeps her hand on my arm so that we end up sitting together.

The introduction takes us into the next hour and then some as the principal, Mr Greene, welcomes us to St. Dominican for the year. He goes on about the history of the school, having started out as a convent for french nuns who came on missions to 'spread the word'. He introduces the new staff members, followed by the old ones (Angela nudges my side when he mentions Coach Black). At the end of the very long speech, we are dismissed and are sent to our classes. Angela shows me where our first two classes but our third period lessons are separate. Mike informs me that we have third period Maths and fourth period Biology together and offers to walk with me to each class. We all meet back at the cafeteria for lunch, Tyler pulls my chair out for me. Angela and I are back togeher in fifith period History. The teacher, Mr Barnes looks like a philosopher and has more white hair than St Nick. He fits the role. Sixth period Chemistry is just me without Angela or Mike but I manage to find the class well enough. The boy who sits next to me is as friendly as Mike, maybe a little too friendly, and so are the two boys who sit behind us. One of them is very funny, though. i don't care much for the others.

When the Bell for seventh period rings, I'm already cringing. Angela is waiting for me at the door, a massive grin on her face. "Are you ready for P.E?" I stick my tongue out at her sourly before she grabs my arm and we're off to the gymnasium. When we've changed into our blue shorts and yellow shirts, Angela leads me to the boundary line at the one end of the gymnasium where we're apparently supposed to line up before when the coach arrives. I knew that there was another sports coach (the soccer coach) who Angela insisted wasn't in the least bit interested in any sport that wasn't soccer or cricket. "He's british, you see," Angela tells me. "He says that the only sports worth participating in are European sports. So the chances of Coach Jenks showing up is seriously a one in a million chance." Her face says it all. She's enjoying the inevitable embarrassment to turn my cheeks red when the lesson starts. Part of me, the really unimpressed and hissed off part of me feels that our friendship is too young for this kind of teasing. The other part of me, the more sentimental part of me is reminded of the endless teasing that went on between my father and I. Neither Charlie nor I canmanage to stay vertical for more than five minutes during any time period of physical activity. As much as I don't want to admit it, Charlie would be just as amused as Angela is.

A group of girls to our right is giggling in a little circle but I can hear that they're talking about the coach. "He's absolute hottie!" seals one of the girls to another, who replies, "I know! I saw him for the first time yesterday, boy did I have a heart attack." and the conversation gre more and more inappropriate as time passed. I try not to listen. Mike, Lauren and Jessica join us a second later.

When the gymnasium doors open and the tall, muscular figure approaches in a white muscle shirt and black shorts, I almost die on the spot and Angela is having the time of her life.

His voice bounces off the gym walls with a boom when he calls out, "Line Up!" and everyone falls into place with us behind the white boundary line. The giggling girls on our left hushed up but letting a few giggles slip through, here and there. "Welcome to your first PE session! I'm glad to see that you've all been informed about our routine," he announces, gesturing to the way we are standing along the line. "My name is Jacob Black, or Jake to the students who know me, and I will be your PE coach here at St Dominican. For the love of god, nobody call me Mr Black, it makes me sound like a middle aged lawyer." Everyone laughs at that. "He rules of PE are quite simple: everybody will participate unless physically incapable of doing so." It might be my imagination but his eyes flicker to me every now and again. Agg, he probably does that to everyone I sigh. "Everybody will excuse themselves first before leaving or if they are unable to attend due to valid reasons, everybody will wear the carrest PE uniform under all circumstances unless given permission due to valid reasons." With that, he sighs and rubs the back of his neck as he paces back and forth in front of us. I can't stop myself from staring at his chest as it rises and falls with each word. "Ladies, please! Absolutely no low cut tank tops, boy shorts or miniskirts! I don't think the boys can take it. In the past we have had to send a few boys to see the school nurse and it is unacceptable. Should any of you young ladies show up in inappropriate attire, we will confiscate all your clothes and you will be wearing the clothes donated by the devoted sisters of Dominican Convent." Okay, that one is funny. "And in return for their gracious dress, all boy will treat the girls with respect. You are men now and I expect you to act like it. Finally, there is definitely no fighting during PE. if I catch any of you fighting, I will personally beat you to a pulp before sending you to Mr Greene's office. Those are the general rules of my PE class. If you can follow those rules without argument I promise to go easy on you. Any questions?"

Lauren's hand shoot up like a flag and the coach rolls his eyes. "The sign up sheet for the swim team is on the school notice board, as it always is, Lauren." His eyes flicker to me when he says that and I immediately look at my feet before my cheeks betray me. What does he know?

Just checking," she says with a shrug. I make a mental note to ask Angela to show where that is immediately after gym.

With that, he claps his hands togather in conclusion. Okay, then. We start easy this week. I want you to run the width of this gym ten times from line to line! Let's go!"

With that we all all start running from one side of the gym to the other. Trust my co-ordination to fail me before I've finished my third run back to the original start point. The truth is, I would rather have fallen and broken my neck than have him catch me a second time.

But since when do things go my way?


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Right, then. Chapter Four. I hope you enjoy it.**

"James keeps looking at you," Jessica giggles, I forget that I'm ignoring her for laughing at me and look up in voluntarily. Across the cafeteria, James from our History class is smiling at me as he leans against the wall with a plate of spaghetti. In the first week now passed, I've learnt the names of a few people in each of my classes so I know who she's talking about. When he realises that I've caught him looking at me, he winks and it gives me the creeps. I look back at Jessica and make a gagging sound. She laughs. "What? He's cute."

It's dinner time in the cafeteria and some of us are in our pyjamas already. There's the buzz of conversation and a few loud laughs from a plump looking teacher sitting at a table with other teachers. No less than five minutes ago, Jessica had been amused by my lack of balance as I almost tripped on my own foot walking into the cafeteria. Thankfully, a certain someone wasn't around to almost catch me. I've already decided that I'd rather fall flat on my face or at least have some one else catch me, I wouldn't be able to stand the humiliation if he'd have to catch me overtime I lost my footing, which was very often. It's been a weeks of many near-death experiences. I'm somewhat tired but I haven't decided yet if I'll visit the pool tonight.

I wrinkle my nose. "Eww, he's creepy. It overshadows what he looks like ." I twist my fork in some spaghetti and pop it into my mouth.

"He's not that creepy," she says but when I chance a quick peek in his direction, his gaze is still one that sends a chill down my spine.

"Yeah, he is," I conclude, bringing my eyes back to my plate. "Can we change the subject. He gets creepier the more we speak about him." Now that I'm aware of it, I can feel him staring at me. Judging by how he was looking at me, he was probably going to approach me sooner or later. If I don't show any interest now, he won't be so shocked when I reject him if the time comes.

"Fine," Jessica groans.

"Hey, there's the coach," Lauren breaks away from her conversation with Mike, Tyler and Angela. "Coach! Get over here, will ya!"

I can't hide my whimper of embarrassment and the deep red that colours my cheeks. Angela snorts but pretends not to notice. I also find it weird how comfortable Lauren was speaking to him the way she does. And even more so how casual he is about it.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" He's leaning against the back of an empty chair with his arms. And he's wearing a tight fitting black v-neck, exposing his arms and his collar bone. I decide not to say anything. Angela, Tyler and Mike resume their conversation.

"Have you looked at the sign up sheet yet. I think we have a lot of names this year." she asks, referring to the sign up sheet for the swim team. I had gone with her to scribble my name below hers.

"Nah, not yet," he waves his hand dismissively. "I think I want to be surprised this time around. The eighth graders look particularly disastrous."

Lauren's smile broadens. "Wouldn't have it any other way. I'll be there to act as lifegaurd."

"Great," he he nods and then he glances at me for the briefest second when he says, "I'll see you girls at practise next week." And then he was walking away.

Face still red, I'm not too sure if I can finish my plate of spaghetti. I pretend to join the conversation with Lauren bit don't say much. I'm too preoccupied with the coach and his glances in my 'd said that he hadn't looked at the sign up sheet yet he seemed to already assume that I was going to be there. Why? I suddenly think back to those nights when I thought I heard those noises. Could that have been him? Had he been watching me? Maybe I shouldn't go back, then, I say quietly to myself. But then I realise that he probably would have gotten me into trouble if he had. I'm just being paranoid. When it's time to return to our dorm room, I ask Angela, as I flop down on my bed, about what she thinks.

She gives a short laugh. "Bella, don't be such a scardy cat. He knows you're a swimmer because I told him. I said that you're really good and like any coach, he's just eager to see for himself."

I sigh, though I'm not sure it's of relief. "I need to stop being so stupid."

When I go swimming, it's without any paranoia or caution. i don't imagine the sound of footsteps.

The weekend is pretty much uneventful. I call Charlie on Saturday. He's still insists that things are okay at home but his voice sounds tired. Maybe I should swallow my pride and try my such with her. Charlie wouldn't tell me if they were finally getting divorced but Sense might, if she was feeling generous. Angela and I watch movies with Jessica and Lauren in their room on a laptop. i go swimming during the nights as usual but don't stay as long. Angela and I do our homework together at the library.

It's hard to get up again on Monday but Angela takes no mercy on me. We no longer have wear uniform except when we're told so I put on a pair of jeans, a white vest and an old blue flannal shirt of Charlie's that used to be my fishing shirt. Angela tells me that I look like a typical small town girl. I take it as a compliment.

English and Art go by quickly and Maths is boring. In Biology we're asked to pick a permanent lab partner for the rest of the year. I wouldn't have grabbed onto Mike as eagerly as I do if James hadn't been gawking at me from the second the word 'partner' was mentioned. I stay close to Mike the rest of the period. James doesn't get at chance ro approach me in History. Mr Barnes dives right into the lesson. Chemistry is uneventful.

I can't help it. I groan when the bell for seventh period goes. The same as every other day, Angela is waiting for me outside the class. "Well, don't look so grumpy," she says. "PE isn't that bad."

"As long as I can stay vertical then, yes, it isn't that bad."

We quickly make our way to the gymnasium and get into our kit. Jessica and Mike are already waiting at the line as we join them. There's a line of black rubber mats looked with a chain at one end sitting on my left between the girls and the boys changing room. They're lined up along the line that runs to the opposite side of the gymnasium and a wooden beam is placed beside each row of cones. Orange cones are set up in rows that span the line we stand on. A bunch of guys are fooling around in one corner of the room and some girls are stretching and trying to look athletic. It's not long before the coach walks in and everyone scrambles to stand at the line. "Everyone here?" he asks and a yes comes in unison. "Alright, then. Can anyone guess what day it is." I, of course, have no idea what he's talking about but the rest shout out a jumbled messed of different answers. One of the other kids shouts out Monday and evryone bursts out laughing, including the coach. I can't help noticing how good he looks when he smiles. "Well, he is right in a way I guess. But other than Monday, today is also Boys' Day?"

At that the boys groan and the girls cheer. I lean in to Angela and whisper, "What is Boys' Day?"

She's beaming like the rest of the girls. "It's when the boys pick a girl to add to their equipment and compete with each other in race or obstacle course or whatever the coach has set up."

Okay. With I ask, "So why are the girls so excited?"

With a grin she explains, "Besides the boys competeing? The volunteering part."

I'm about to ask her what she means by that when the coach continues. I notice that some equipment has been set out on the line perpendicular to the one we were standing along. "Alright," the coach announces with a loud clap of his hands. "And now for a demonstration." I don't miss a few of the girls suddenly standing up straighter and taller and smiling till their cheek probably hurt.

It could be that I'm the girl closest to him or that he picked me on purpose, I'm not sure, but he takes two steps towards me and reaches out his hand with a wave towards himself. After a second, I take an uncertain step, which provokes Angela to nudge me forward. I take more fluid steps and he places his hands on my shoulders as he positions me to stand in front of him. A few girls are glaring at me, the ones who wanted to seem athletic earlier, and the others are grinning. The boys don't seem to care.

"Okay, so this will be a race," he explains and I try to ignore the rumbling on his chest against my back. "The objective is to collect the five flags on that side of the gym, " he points ahead of me to the wall opposite. "One by one each lap of the race. The first leg of the race," he booms and suddenly he scoops me up bridal style. Taken absolutely off guard, I let out a shriek of surprise, only to go red in the face again when some of the girls laugh. God, his body is so warm. "The boys will have to carry the girls, in any manner that suits you as long as you are supporting her weight, as you put one foot forward and kneel on the back knee, and then get up, put the next foot forward and kneel of the next knee. " We move up and down as he demonstrates the exercise. He lifts carries me effortlessly, as if I weigh only a few pounds. The smell of him is intoxicating and I have to do my best to look away form his broad chest. I'm clearly not hiding expression well enough because Angela and Jessica are giggling with each other and Mike is not impressed at all. "You do this all the way to the opposite side, get the flag and run all the way back, girl still in arms."

We get to the other side of the gym in no time at all. "Your partner may grab the flag for you if you are unable but that is the only assistance you are allowed to have from the girls. Snatch the flag, Bella." Beet red in the face, I reach out and take the flag before he turns and runs back to the other end of the gym where we started. We continue to go back and forth with different challenges: I'm sat on a rubber mat that has to be pulled back and forth with a chain, I'm piggybacked zig-zagging in and out of cones and then again as he dribbles a ball in and out the cone. The last obstacle of the race we are back to bridal style as he balances along a narrow but low beam next to the cones. Without breaking much of a sweat he's complete the entire demonstration with ease as if he hadn't Beet carrying a hundred and ten pound girl with him. "Guys, I am begging you, please! If you know you don't have the physical endurance of an athlete, don't pick a girl like Rosalie who has long legs. You will struggle and I don't any of the girls being dropped. Pair up with someone smaller and slender like Bella." And with that he sets me down with a smile and a thank you. I weekly walk back to my place next to Angela and Jessica, who both look at me with envy and a promise of later badgering.

"Rosalie," Jake continues, "On anyone who doesn't look like they can carry you, feel free to reject him. That goes for all the girls. Okay, pair up."

Mike immediately asks to pair up with me and I don't mind. By the look on her face, I just know that Angela will make a big deal about my role in today's demonstration. Just when I thought she was the perfect roommate.


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Just a very, very, very short update. Ill try for the next chapter soon, so enjoy.**

When Thursday rolls around, I'm slightly excited. Finally, today we had swimming try outs after school. When I showed up at breakfast, Lauren asked me if I was ready and then gave me a high five. "Well, as captain of the team, you already have my stamp of approval." I don't know how to feel about that comment, especially since the role of captain was open at the beginning of every year but I decide not to dwell on it too much. Besides, Lauren still has a place in the team so she doesn't have to try out, really. Putting her name on the list is just required to show that she would still be participating this year.

Ms Clearwater is grumpier than usual in English Class but it's most of is just roll our eyes when she's not looking and give a sigh. She gives us an assignment due in two weeks. With the work load starting to pick up, I'm finding that Ill have less and less time to sneak out at night. It's not that bad, though, now that swimming practice was going to be almost everyday.

The day seems to drag on by, moving slower and lower the more time passed. In PE, we have a series of three-legged races, one version involving a member of each pair being blindfolded. When the session was over, Lauren bolted straight for the coach, I guess to talk about try outs. I get changed (with my suit under my clothes) and am ready for my next class when Lauren comes over to. "Whatever your next class is, you'll be excused. Lets go get the pool ready for try outs."

I don't think twice about it. We race out of the gymnasium and run for the pool house. She gets there just half a second before me. For the first time ever, I enter the place through the doors instead of the secret paneling at the back and it definitely kills the sense of adventure. I'm thrilled that Lauren still has to change into her swim suit when I already have it on underneath. "The equipment is in that room over there," she points in the direction of the store room where the secret paneling opens and I pretend not to know which room she's talking about. "Start without me. I'll be ready in just a second."

I went into the store room and got out the lane divides. I done right into the water and started hooking up each lane divide. I'd only done two of them when Lauren joined me. When we were done with the lane divides, we went onto the diving platforms at the deeper end of the pool. We end up playing around in the water. It starts when she pushes me in and in a moment of reflex action, I unintentionally grab a hold of her elbow. We go crashing into the water together but I surface just a second before her. "You sneaky bitch!" I choke out and send a wave of water at her face after which she screams and retaliates with her own attack. I can't tell if we're screaming or laughing. Probably both. i didn't usually behave like this anyone but Charlie. Maybe this school was good for me. We probably wouldn't have stopped if the coach didn't walk in just then.

"Hey! Break it up, ladies!" he calls out over noise of the water. "I have try outs to hold." He has a few eighth grade kids trailing behind him.

Lauren and I swim to the edge of the pool and pull ourselves out of the water. We didn't even here the bell go for after school. A few kids who were on the team last year show up as well but it's evident that we're going to be a small team. The first few test are for general fitness like how quickly we can pull ourselves out of the water, lung capacity and stuff like that. There is nothing I can't handle. Most of it is pretty straight forward. I'm a pretty good swimmer if I don't say so myself except for the fact that my backstroke sucks rocks. I don't participate in that part of the try out. Some of the younger kids are absolute disasters. Two boys who dive in don't come back up. One girl ends up looking like a sea lion having a heart attack. I wondered if they could actually swim. In the end, though, it went pretty well, for those who didn't drown at least. The coach gives us a good job and tells us the names for the new team will be put up soon. The next morning, my name is on the list in the main hallway. At the risk of sounding arrogant, I can't say I'm surprised.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Just another quick update and another step in Jake and Bella's developing relationship. Enjoy.**

To say that I've been very busy is an under statement. As the days go by, Ms Clearwater gives us more assignments, Biology gets more complicated and I plan my day more and more around swimming practise. I've been so preoccupied that I haven't snuck out in a week. It's either I forget to go while Angela and I do our homework quietly in the evenings or at the end of the day I'm just way to tired and have passed out by nine o-clock. Four weeks into the school year and I've already had to give up my after after-school activities. Life sucks.

I get an A on an English quiz we had two days ago. Angela whispers that I must have done something right because an A from Ms Clearwater is as common as a unicorn.

James has me cornered in Biology and Mike seems to be running late, still discuss the Math work we were given with the teacher. I saw James approach my desk where I was already seated but I didn't look up, hoping he'd just move on if I pretended to ignore him. After five minutes with my nose in a book, he clears his throat loudly, demanding my attention. With a roll of my eyes, I look up at him and he has that disturbing grin on his face. "You're Isabella, right?"

I really don't want to answer. "Er, yeah. That's me . . ."

"A beautiful name for a beautiful girl. You must be Italian then," he tells me, proud of himself for knowing that my name is Italian. "You know, I wanted to be your partner for this class but Newton go to you first. I bet we'd be good together." I take a second to process that statement. Does he mean as lab partners or as a couple? I can't tell. "I'm pretty good at this class. I get good grades and everything."

That's when Mike walks in and I jump out of my seat before I know what I'm doing. "Mike!" I go over to him and I link my arm with his almost forcefully. Hopefully James gets the wrong impression and backs off. "Finally." The whole class is looking at us but Mike is too stunned to notice. With a scowl on his face, James returns to his seat, glaring at Mike. I sigh with relief and drag Mike back to our desk.

"What was that about?" he asks with indifference.

James wouldn't leave me alone and you were late. So you sort of were my escape plan. Sorry."

He shrugs, "Don't worry about it. James is one creepy guy so I don't mind."

"Thanks, Mike. You're my hero," I say, batting my eyelashes in an exaggerated manner. He blinks at me for a second before we both burst out laughing. I note from across the room, with a slight feeling of satisfaction, that James looks discouraged by our interaction. At the end of the class, Mike offers to walk me to my next class since James in that one too and I don't hesitate to link arms again. We stand at the door until Angela arrives to take his place and he quickly hurries off to his next class.

P.E is absolutely killer. Today is "Girls' Day', the dredful female equivalent of boys day. I have never been so exhausted in my life. We follow Coach Black to the football field where he explains what we have to do. "Okay, ladies. today, you are going to kill your husband." We all give each other confused looks, not sure what he's is on about. "I want you girls to pick a husband' and you are going to pretend that you killed him for whatever reason. the objective is that you have thirty minute to dispose of his body in those empty storage containers across the field." The are blue container all the way on the other side of the field, about the size of a small dumpster. "You can use anything you want as long as I don't see any bodies at the end of thirty minutes. Boys, you are corpses therefore you may not assist the girls in anyway. I'll give you a second to choose a partner."

Mike offers to be my partner in return for being his partner on boys Day. On the one side of the field, the girls stand in a line with the boys playing dead on the ground in front of us. There's a whole bunch of random sports equipment available for our use but nothing that looked very helpful. When the whistle blows for us to begin, I have no idea where to start. Whatever I do, I don't want to hurt him. It takes me a minute to decide to get a wrestling mat and roll him up in it. I start rolling him across the field, leaving some teams behind me but trying to catch up with those who are ahead of me. "Jesus, Mike," I mumble to him. "No offence but I don't think I'd ever really murder you. It's too much trouble." He's been very good at playing dead but my comment makes him laugh. I'm a quarter of the way when I decide to tie the mat up with rope and pull him the rest of the way. I have sweat running down my temples and down my back. On my left, Angela is struggling just as much as I am. On my right, the coach asks Rosalie why she killed Carter. "He was going to leave me for his secretary," was her oh-so-unique answer.

When I look back to where we started, I realise that we haven't even reached the half way mark and there's about twenty minutes left. I tug on the ropes harder, trying to pick up the pace. I manage to tug a whole six feet in one go but I don't have the energy to do it again. I decide to start pulling backward. It seems to help a little.

"So what did poor Mike do to deserve this?" the coach asks as I tug and pull and heave at the ropes.

I do my best not to look up at him and focus on not getting rope burn."He told me I look fat in yellow. It was unacceptable." Both Mike and the coach burst out laughing and I try really hard not to be pleased with myself. The Coach has a really nice laugh . . .

"So you killed him for that?"

"I wore yellow on our first date. It was a sentimental colour." They laugh again and this time, I laugh with them. Mike forgets that he's dead and pipes in that I asked for his honest opinion. I gently kick the side of the wrestling mat and tell him to shut up. "Even after death you have excuses. My father was right about you." I've gotten past the half way point and am well on the way to reaching the container. Some of the other girls are already trying to figure out how to get their partners into the container.

The coach shakes his head. "How'd you kill him? He's much bigger than you."

I just make it across the field and have five minutes to get Mike into the blue container I'm panting for air and my pulse thuds behind my ears. "I bludgoned him to death, " gasp," with his Xbox controller," I explain as I untie the rope and unroll the mat. "He was too busy playing Black Ops to notice."

"Well, you have four minutes to hide the body so make it quick. This is the hardest part."

He gets out of my way and I try to come up with an easy way to get Mike in the container. I look around and see that no one has managed to get this bit done yet. None of the equipment looks very useful so I'll probably have to just toss Mike in over the top. And then I get and idea.

I drag Mike away from the container so that I don't drop it on top of him. He peek at me with question in his eyes and I tell him to trust me. I go over to the container, which is so much heavier than it looks, and I tilt it forward until it's turned on its side so that the opening is facing me. I open the lid then roll Mike into it, having to end his knees so that he his in fetal position. "Good riddens, you insensitive jerk," I chuckle and then I add, "Sorry if I hurt you with this," I warn him before I close the lid. With Mike in it, it's much harder to get the container the upright. Pushing with all my weight, I manage to get the box standing but cringe when I hear him tumbling inside. "Done!" I announce before I fall back on the ground, ready to pass out. I'm almost dizzy with exhaustion that the idea of getting up seems like too much trouble. Mike pops out of the container like he's achieved something, a wide grin on his face. "Victory!" he cries out and I almost laugh. And then I member that I have no energy left so I close my eyes.

When the sun is blocked out by the coach's shadow, I'm grateful, even if it's the mild October son of the North. "Isabella? You okay?" My eyes shoot open when I feel one of his hands pressed against my forehead, cool for the ice water from his water bottle. I nod weakly.

"Mike eats too many Snickers bars, that all."

He laughs as he presses his hand to my one cheek and then the other. I look at his chest in steak of his face but that doesn't help clear my head so I look at his spikey hair instead. He gives me a drink of water from his bottle and it cools me down immediately. When he's sure I'm alright, he holds his hand out to help me up and I take it. "I'm okay," I tell him because his hands on my shoulders is distracting me. With another sip from his water bottle, I'm a little less embarrassed when I see the field littered with girls either leaning with their hands on their knees or lying on their backs like me. I give him back his bottle with a thank you. He gets Mike to help me back to the gymnasium to change and suggests that I skip my next class and go lie down instead. To be honest, it's not that bad. I'll live. I'm just as warn out as everyone else in the class but I don't mention that. My next class is guidance class (compulsory since this was once a catholic school) and the teacher is a total hippy. I would not turn down an opportunity to skip class. Angela is excused along with me because I apparently needed someone to watch me. "Just as long as you make it to swim practise, take all the time you need."

I don't know what to say to that. Except maybe, "I'll be there."


End file.
